10. The MoMA won an Oscar in 1979

Richard Oldenburg and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd with Gregory Peck accepting an Oscar in 1979
Left to right: Richard Oldenburg, Director of the Museum, and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd, President, Board of Trustees, accepting an honorary Oscar from Gregory Peck for the Department of Film of the Museum of Modern Art, during The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 51st Annual Awards Ceremony; Richard Oldenburg; April 1979; Photographic Archive. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York

Most works in the museum’s collection were either donated or purchased, but one very special gold-plated statue was awarded to The MoMA at the 51st Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. In 1979, the museum won an Oscar for its “contributions to the public’s perception of movies as an art form.”

It was a well-deserved award, as The MoMA has been championing film as an art form since the founding of its film department in the mid-1930s. Today The MoMA’s film collection includes 30,000 films and 1.5 million film stills.

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